Biden to Require US-Made Steel, Iron for Infrastructure

April 18, 2022by Josh Boak, Associated Press
Biden to Require US-Made Steel, Iron for Infrastructure
President Joe Biden speaks at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday, April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is taking a key step toward ensuring that federal dollars will support U.S. manufacturing — issuing requirements for how projects funded by the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package source their construction material.

The guidance being issued Monday requires that the material purchased — whether it’s for a bridge, a highway, a water pipe or broadband internet — be produced in the U.S., according to administration officials. However, the rules also set up a process to waive those requirements in case there are not enough domestic producers or the material costs too much, with the goal of issuing fewer waivers over time as U.S. manufacturing capacity increases.

“There are going to be additional opportunities for good jobs in the manufacturing sector,” said Celeste Drake, director of Made in America at the White House Office of Management and Budget.

President Joe Biden hopes to create more jobs, ease supply chain strains and reduce the reliance on China and other nations with interests that diverge from America’s. With inflation at a 40-year high ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, he’s betting that more domestic production will ultimately reduce price pressures to blunt Republican attacks that his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package initially triggered higher prices.

“From Day One, every action I’ve taken to rebuild our economy has been guided by one principle: Made in America,” Biden said Thursday in Greensboro, North Carolina. “It takes a federal government that doesn’t just give lip service to buying American but actually takes action.”

Biden said that the roughly $700 billion the government devotes annually to procuring goods is supposed to prioritize U.S. suppliers but regulations going back to the 1930s have either been watered down or applied in ways that masked the use of foreign imports.

The administration could not say what percentage of construction material for existing infrastructure projects is U.S.-made, even though the federal government is already spending $350 billion on construction this year. The new guidelines would enable government officials to know how many dollars go to U.S. workers and factories.

Tucked into the bipartisan infrastructure package that became law last November was a requirement that starting on May 14 “none of the funds” allocated to federal agencies for projects may be spent “unless all of the iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in the project are produced in the United States.” That’s according to Monday’s 17-page guidance.

The guidance includes three standards for these requirements to be waived: if the purchase “would be inconsistent with the public interest”; if the needed materials aren’t produced “in sufficient and reasonably available quantities or of a satisfactory quality”; or if U.S. materials increase a project’s cost by more than 25%.

American manufacturers are about 170,000 jobs short of the 12.8 million factory jobs held in 2019, as manufacturing jobs began to decline before the pandemic began. But the U.S. has 6.9 million fewer manufacturing jobs compared with the 1979 peak, a loss caused by outsourcing and automation.

Getting more industrial jobs will likely mean adding more factories and assembly lines — as manufacturers are operating at a 78.7% capacity, which the Federal Reserve notes is above the historical average.

A+
a-
  • infrastructure
  • iron
  • Joe Biden
  • manufacturing
  • steel
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Manufacturing

    Biden Administration Announces $5B Commitment for Research and Development of Computer Chips

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday announced the investment of $5 billion in a newly established public-private consortium... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday announced the investment of $5 billion in a newly established public-private consortium aimed at supporting research and development in advanced computer chips. The National Semiconductor Technology Center is being funded through the CHIPS and Science Act. That 2022 law... Read More

    United Airlines CEO Says Airline Will Consider Alternatives to Boeing's Next Airplane

    The United Airlines CEO says he is “disappointed” in ongoing manufacturing problems at Boeing that have led to the grounding... Read More

    The United Airlines CEO says he is “disappointed” in ongoing manufacturing problems at Boeing that have led to the grounding of dozens of United jetliners, and the airline will consider alternatives to buying a future, larger version of the Boeing 737 Max. United Airlines CEO Scott... Read More

    Biden Administration Announces $162M to Expand Computer Chip Factories in Colorado and Oregon

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is providing $162 million to Microchip Technology to support the domestic production of computer chips —... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is providing $162 million to Microchip Technology to support the domestic production of computer chips — the second funding announcement tied to a 2022 law designed to revive U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. The incentives announced Thursday include $90 million to improve a plant in Colorado... Read More

    Biden to Convene New Supply Chain Council, Announce 30 Steps to Strengthen US Logistics

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday will convene the first meeting of his supply chain resilience council, using the event... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday will convene the first meeting of his supply chain resilience council, using the event to announce 30 actions to improve access to medicine and needed economic data and other programs tied to the production and shipment of goods. “We’re determined... Read More

    Biden Travels to Wisconsin to Talk About the Economy a Week Before GOP Debate

    MILWAUKEE (AP) — In a show of preemptive counter-programming, President Joe Biden on Tuesday traveled to Wisconsin to highlight his economic policies in a... Read More

    MILWAUKEE (AP) — In a show of preemptive counter-programming, President Joe Biden on Tuesday traveled to Wisconsin to highlight his economic policies in a state critical to his reelection fortunes, just a week before Republicans descend on Milwaukee for the party’s first presidential debate. His arrival in Milwaukee comes on the eve... Read More

    Biden Pitching His Economic Policies as a Key to Manufacturing Jobs Revival

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Bringing back factory jobs is one of the most popular of White House promises — no... Read More

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Bringing back factory jobs is one of the most popular of White House promises — no matter who happens to be the president. Donald Trump said he'd do it with tariffs on imports. Barack Obama said companies would start “insourcing.” George W. Bush said tax... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top